


get off of my back, dammit, I didn't learn parenting

by ashintuku



Series: fox on the run [13]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Mild Language, change of perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-07 22:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12851145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashintuku/pseuds/ashintuku
Summary: “...Sir?”“Keep a hold of tha’ fer me. Don’t lose it.”





	get off of my back, dammit, I didn't learn parenting

The Third Quadrant rattled noisily, Kraglin mutterin' to hisself as he checked stats on the ship; the rat had scampered off somewhere, probably to look for any damage caused from their ejection from the rest of the _Eclector_. 

It burned at him to separate from his ship; it had been all his, a gift given to him from Stakar that he had made his own through hardship and pain and sufferin’. It had carried him when his old team no longer would; his last, physical connection to the person he had once dreamed of being. 

But that goddamned asshole Taserface had to ruin it for him, just like Ego had ruined bein’ a Ravager and Quill had ruined bein’ heartless. 

He sighed through crooked teeth, reaching into his pocket. His fingers trailed over knickknacks and odd’ends that he kept in his pockets – never knew when he’d need him, did he? Tossin’ the orange-haired dollie that Quill had swapped the stone with (and hadn’t _that_ been a kick in the ass? Too smart for his own good, that boy, and Yondu couldn’t be damned prouder, honest), and a couple of extra rounds for a blaster he sparingly used, he finally found what he was lookin’ for. He looked over at Kraglin. 

“Kraglin!” 

The Xandarian jerked; bangin’ his head on the console he was underneath. Yondu snorted, smirkin’ as Kraglin finally crawled out and rubbed at his head. 

“Aye, Cap’n?” 

“Come’ere a sec, wouldje? 

Blinking widely at the Centaurian, Kraglin edged his way over to Yondu and stopped a safe distance away. Yondu rolled his eyes, took a large step forward, and shoved what he was holdin’ to Kraglin’s chest. Kraglin scrambled to get a hold of it as he let go. 

“...Sir?” 

“Keep a hold of tha’ fer me. Don’t lose it.” Yondu narrowed his eyes, pointin’ a finger at the other’s chest and poking him roughly. “Ya hear me? _Don’t ya dare flarkin’ lose it_.”

“...Wha’ am I s’posed t’do with it, sir?” 

Yondu paused; chewing the inside of his teeth and feeling blood slick his tongue where sharpened teeth had finally bitten through. He then shrugged, turnin’ away from Kraglin and makin’ his way to the console. He paused before pressin’ any buttons. 

“...You’ll figgur it out, son,” he said, soft and quiet. He pressed the button and leaned forward. “Hey, rat – get yer ass to the lower level, we’re goin’ down planetside in goddamn style.” 

Not botherin’ to wait for an answer, he stepped away from the console once more, turnin’ to see Kraglin watching him warily – but it wasn’t the wariness of someone waitin’ to attack. Boy was waitin’ for the other boot to drop on his goddamn head. 

“...Ya done alrigh’. Now keep yerself alive and no goddamn heroics while I’m gone, got it?” 

Straightening up, Kraglin nodded and punched his chest in the salute. Yondu cracked a smile, turnin’ around and walkin’ out without another word. 

He’d said what he’d needed to, anyway. 

Now it was just time to go save his goddamn boy.

~+~

“Hey, Pete?” 

Peter looked over to Kraglin, wondering what else needed to be said. They’d said their goodbyes: watched as the man they both respected trailed off in a flare of ash and dust into the quiet black outside of their ship. They’d done everything they could to make it a proper Ravager funeral, even if one of them was just a first mate and the other wasn’t even a Ravager anymore. 

Well. Not officially. Peter personally thought you never fully stopped being what you knew best. 

Kraglin stepped over to him, fiddling with something in his pocket, before he shoved whatever it was into Peter’s chest. Peter reached up and caught it when it almost dropped, looking down at the little piece of plastic before looking back at Kraglin. He raised an eyebrow. 

“Cap’n wanted ya t’have it – he got it from some junk shop a while ago. S’called a Zune – apparently it’s what terrans use to listen to music nowadays.” 

Peter looked back down at the little piece of plastic, holding it up for inspection. 

“Holds three hundred songs.” 

“Three _hundred_?” 

Kraglin nodded, shifting a little and looking away. Peter’s fingers wrapped tighter around the Zune, mind running a mile a minute. 

He didn’t even process what he did next; just took the arrow, giving it to Kraglin and telling him Yondu would want him to have it. He doubted the old man would’ve wanted _Peter_ to have it – just call it a hazard and smack him on the head. 

But that was okay. He’d take music any day of the week.

~+~

Space was goddamned cold. 

Yondu’s thoughts were turnin’ sluggish, his hearin’ overwhelmed by all the silence around him. The only thing he could hear was his strugglin’ inhales and Quill’s voice, muffled and raw and breakin’. 

He’d always been good at hurtin’ his boy, but he’d meant well. Maybe that meant somethin’. Maybe he wouldn’t burn for it when things finally went dark. Maybe he’d get that ship in the stars and sail off where all the other Ravager captains sailed off. 

Or maybe he’d be a body floatin’ in space for the rest of time until he finally hit somethin’, and the only ones who would remember him were frozen corpses a dozen jumps away from him. 

He reached down with stiffening limbs to hold Quill’s face, tryin’ to give his boy one last smile. One last memory of his old man smilin’, ‘cause he hadn’t smiled enough around the boy, and he didn’t want him to remember him as some scowlin’ asshole. He was an asshole, he absolutely was, but he wanted the boy to have some good goddamn memories, at the least. 

_You turned out so much better’n me_ , he wanted to say, patting Quill’s tear-streaked face. 

_Yer the only thing I did goddamned right_. 

_I love you, boy_. 

He opened his mouth, hopin’ to at least say that last one. If anything, his boy needed to hear the last one. 

But his eyes glazed over, and his throat tightened, and Yondu Udonta didn’t say a goddamned thing. 

~+~

Peter held onto the Zune, staring down at the archaic bit of technology with a shuddering breath. It was newer than the Walkman but older than everything else he’d ever owned and he immediately loved it, because it was his and his alone. No one else in the galaxy had a Zune, he felt sure of it. 

Pressing a button, he saw the screen flash, and a song title stared up at him. His breath hitched, and he left for the captain’s headquarters without another word to Kraglin. 

_Father and Son_ slowly faded to black as the screen powered down, but Peter didn’t need to see it to know what was being said. 

Everything that needed to be said had been said. 

Now it was just time to listen.

**Author's Note:**

> And that is the end of the series! I had set out to write a fic for each song from Awesome Mix Vol.s 1 and 2, and I have done so. I'm really proud of myself for that? 
> 
> Thank you all so much for following along with this series, from my long silences to some of my weaker works and everything in between. I've had a blast writing it - I've started a one-shot collection that I hope to put more headcanons and ideas in, if you're ever interested in that. Thank you for reading and commenting and bookmarking and everything! I've appreciated each and every one of your comments. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!


End file.
